Endorsing Harp, Guv Says She Delivered

The governor popped into East Rock Thursday afternoon to make the case that Toni Harp’s experience at the state Capitol shows why New Haveners should elect her their next mayor.

Accompanied by New Haven labor leader Bob Proto, Malloy arrived at Nica’s Market on Orange Street — the home base of support for one of Harp’s rivals, Justin Elicker — at 5 p.m. to make the endorsement.

After a short tour inside Nica’s, Malloy came back outside to address a crowd assembled on the market’s patio after preliminary remarks by state Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman. He offered his perspective from his perch in Hartford to make the case for Harp’s candidacy.

“In Hartford, I have seen Toni’s leadership firsthand,” the governor said in prepared remarks. ​“Time and time again her collaborative governing style has led to positive results — from making the budget fairer and more equitable to ensuring there is accountability for taxpayers. …

“In Hartford this year, for example, Toni negotiated a budget that brought hundreds of thousands of new dollars to New Haven schools. That equates to smaller class sizes, more resources, and an overall better education for students. That money meant that New Haven could continue to educate students without raising taxes.”

He cited Harp’s work in expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor and pushing for school reform legislation.

Malloy also declared that New Haven ​“needs a woman mayor” who can reach ​“consensus.” If elected, Harp would become the city’s first woman ever in the job.

“It was never her way or the highway” at the Capitol, Malloy said in remarks that concluded at 5:22.

Harp, for her part, credited Malloy for instituting universal pre‑K education as mayor of Stamford. As a governor, he made sure to protect the poor and the state’s finances during the worst recession in recent history.

“I will do the same thing in New Haven” by finding savings while protecting public safety and expanding pre‑K education, Harp said.

“We will learn from you, and we will work with you.”

City activist Wendy Hamilton confronted Malloy right after the speeches, asking the governor how he could support Harp given that her late husband owed the state over $1 million in unpaid taxes. Malloy responded by reiterating his comments about how hardworking Harp is. Harp’s supporters started chanting ​“Toni! Toni! Toni!” to drown Hamilton out.

A crowd started filling the market’s patio before 5 p.m. It included political faces from today and yesterday, ranging from Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, Democratic Town Committee officials Vinnie Mauro and Gwen Mills, to former mayoral candidates Sundiata Keitazulu and Jim Newton and former Alderman Yusuf Shah. Meanwhile, a Nica’s shopper ate a panino and took in the crowd massing around him, and longtime Democratic Party election worker Brian McGrath downed a $4 cup of chocolate gelato. He pronounced it ​“too expensive.” The crowd eventually grew to hundreds of people.

Malloy’s is the latest in a cascade of endorsements of Harp’s campaign by veteran New Haven politicians, including generations of city aldermen and all the top Latino elected officials in town, former State Treasurer Hank Parker, leading labor unions, a majority of the current Board of Aldermen, and the Democratic Town Committee. Harp’s campaign has used the endorsements to present a sense of widespread community support and inevitability surrounding her candidacy. Her Democratic opponents have used the endorsements to argue that she represents institutionalized interests, and old ways of doing business, rather than ​“change.”

Harp (pictured) faces Elicker, Henry Fernandez, and Kermit Carolina in a Sept. 10 Democratic primary. All the candidates except Harp have filed papers to have their names appear on independent slots on the Nov. 5 general election ballot as well.

One of Harp’s Democratic mayoral opponents, Justin Elicker, said he took the decision to hold the Malloy endorsement at Nica’s as a ​“compliment.” Nica’s is in the heart of East Rock, Elicker’s home base. Elicker drew more support there than Harp did in Democratic ward committee votes.

“I think it means Sen. Harp considers me her main competition,” Elicker said. Both his campaign and the Harp campaigns conducted polls showing Elicker in second place, behind Harp, in the four-way Democratic mayoral primary race.

“No, not really,” Harp campaign manager Jason Bartlett replied when asked if Elicker was correct about the reason for the choice ​“We want to get our message out to East Rock. All candidates have big egos.”

Elicker attributed Malloy’s endorsement to the fact that Yale’s unions, UNITE HERE Local 34 and Local 35, back her.

“Malloy is in a tough spot,” Elicker said. ​“He depended on UNITE HERE to get him elected in 2010. He’s going to need them in 2014. So I can understand the position he’s in.”

Then Elicker noted that by holding the event at Nica’s, Harp ​“has dipped her toes into the dangerous waters of the Orange Street markets’ rivalry,” referring to the competition between that market and nearby Romeo & Cesare’s.

Another Harp opponent, Kermit Carolina, referenced the Malloy endorsement during a candidates’ debate earlier in the day at the Park Ridge senior complex on Austin Street in the West Hills neighborhood.

“Malloy won’t represent a man like me,” Carolina told the assembled crowd of 100 or so seniors, ​“because I represent change.”

Paul Bass contributed reporting.